 November
14 - from Minneapolis to Kansas |
 |
Gina
(Cheri Honkala's sister) discussed with the Freedom Riders
the plight of her neighborhood, a cooperative public housing
neighborhood. The city is threatening to destroy the houses
of 30 families there to install public transportation.
Mire
este sitio en espanol
|
Audience
listens to panel discussion on immigrant workers struggles
in the Minneapolis/St Paul area. Immigrant workers have been
targeted and fired illegally. These w orkers have experienced
mass firings illegally the government has been targeting the
immigrant population. |
| 
New
Freedom Bus Riders and Immigrant Workers also spent the evening
discussing the Labor
Party's Workers Rights platform and the necessity of the
poor and the working poor to unite. |
Workers'
Rights Forum in St. Paul, Minnesota, hosted by
UNITE! Northern District Joint Board. Participants included
representatives from the Labor Religion Coalition Sister
Mary White and Bob Hulteen, Todd Anderson from the AFL-CIO,
and Richard Monje, special projects coordinator for UNITE!,
as well as Galen Tyler and Cheri Honkala of the KWRU.
|
Serviced Bus
New Freedom Bus delayed. The bus was serviced and repaired
after being without heat for 36 hours. This delayed the
arrival of the freedom riders in Kansas.
|
The
bus arrived late Thursday night in McPherson Kansas and spent
the night in the 4H center. Special thanks to Emil Mushrush
and Valeda Larson for a preparing and coordinating a homemade
meal and to the rest of the Kansas Farmers Union for their
hospitality, flexibility and generosity. |
Daryl
Larson greeted the Freedom Riders early Friday morning before
he began work that day. Daryl is the president of the Mc
Pherson County Farmer's Union, which has 100 members. He
spoke about some of the issues effecting farmers and recapped
some of the topics discussed at the Union's meeting the
night before
|
Most
farmers farm during the day and work a second shift in the
factory to make ends meet.
|
- Most independent
farmers must provide their own health insurance and pay
extremely high premiums or risk going without health insurance.
- Equipment
and maintenance costs continue to increase yet farmers are
still being paid the same amount of money for their wheat
crop as they got in 1940.
- Thursday
the House of Representatives voted against a bill that would
have provided disaster relief money to farmers who were
effected by last seasons drought.
- Farmers
discussed the possibility of a corporate dairy farm moving
into McPherson County. The farm with 3,500 cattle would
create environmental and pollution concerns.
|
Cheri
Honkala and Daryl Larson, president of McPherson County Farmers
Union. |
|
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Daily
Prayer for the New Freedom Bus Tour
The Rev.
Noelle Damico, Catalyst, School of Theology, University
of the Poor
Thursday, November 14
God of creation, you caused the earth to come into being and
be fruitful. Today we join hands with small farmers who are
fighting to feed their families and preserve their land. Poverty’s
devastation knows no bounds. It devours our rural communities
as well as our cities. Help us cement new alliances that increase
the power and visibility of all who struggle in and against
poverty. May rural-urban alliances break the stereotypes and
help us develop new strategies for achieving economic human
rights. Amen.
|
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About
the Campaign 
